Henry Peter Zwar, OBE (2 December 1873 – 12 January 1959) was an Australian liberal/conservative politician, local government councillor, local government head, Member of Lower House and tannery owner.

Early life

Zwar was born in 1873 in

Broadford, Victoria Broadford is a small town in central Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Broadford had a population of 4,076. The town is the headquarters of the Shire of Mitchell local government area and is approximately north of the state capital, M ...

, the younger brother of Albert Zwar. His parents, Michael Zwar and Agnes Zimmer, were

Sorbs Sorbs ( hsb, Serbja, dsb, Serby, german: Sorben; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a indigenous West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Saxony and Branden ...

from

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budi ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, Germany, who had sought asylum after taking part in the

1848 revolution The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europe ...

. The British government told them if they emigrated to Australia, they would be treated as British subjects, and they moved to Broadford in 1850.

Political career

Zwar was elected as a

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prim ...

member of the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presidin ...

for

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

at the 1932 state election. He was re-elected four times for the United Australia Party, and regularly attended and voted in party meetings, though he did not necessarily vote the party line, claiming "conscience as the final court of appeal". The UAP had become the Liberal Party by the 1945 election, at which an electoral redistribution abolished Heidelberg, placing Zwar in the new, notionally Labor seat of Preston, while shifting the more conservative areas of his old electorate to the new seat of Ivanhoe. In October 1945, Zwar announced that he would not be an endorsed Liberal candidate for the forthcoming election and would contest as an Independent Liberal; he also stated that he did not belong to the Liberal Party and paid no party subscription. He was defeated by 143 votes by Labor candidate and

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

holder William Ruthven.

Later life

Zwar was president of the Preston Football Club from 1926 until 1944, then served as president of the

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

from May 1944 until 1947. Zwar died in Kew, Melbourne,

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

References

1873 births 1959 deaths Members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Australian Anglicans Australian people of German descent VFA/VFL administrators People of Sorbian descent Burials in Victoria (state) 20th-century Australian businesspeople 20th-century Australian politicians People educated at Melbourne Grammar School People from Preston, Victoria Victoria (state) local councillors Mayors of places in Victoria (state) {{Australia-politician-stub